Beidh deireadh le foilsiú Ghaelscéal i gcló agus ar líne go luath. The publication of Gaelscéal in print and online will come to an end soon.Caillfear 5 phost lánGhaeilge agus post amháin páirtaimseartha sa Ghaeltacht mar thoradh air seo, ceathrar de na fostaithe sin ina gcainteoirí dúchais Gaeilge.5 full-time Irish language jobs and one full-time job in the Gaeltacht (the Irish speaking district) will be lost as a result of this, four of those employees being native Irish speakers.

Caillfidh go leor saoririseoirí, a bhfuil na céadta blianta de thaithí acu le chéile, a gcuid ioncaim chomh maith, arís, riar maith acu ina gcainteoirí dúchais Gaeilge.Many free-lance journalists, who together have hundreds of years of experience, will lose their income as well, again, a good many of them native Irish speakers.

Ba mhaith linn a chur in iúl go raibh Torann na dTonn Teo tiomanta go hiomlán don togra seo i gcónaí agus cur cuireadh sin in iúl don Fhoras taobh istigh de choicís ó shin.We would like to let it be known that Torann na dTonn Teo were always totally committed to this project and that this was made known to the Foras within the last fortnight.

Ba mhaith linn a chur i gcuimhne do dhaoine chomh maith, gur fhoilsigh Gaelscéal nuachtán 40 leathanach de ghnáth cé nach bhfuair muid ach deontas do 32 leathanach.We would like to remind people as well, that Gaelscéal usually published 40 pages even though we only got a grant for 32 pages.

Tá sé ráite ag an Fhoras gur chuir siad deireadh leis an chonradh de bhrí nár dhíol Gaelscéal go leor cóipeanna.The Foras have stated that they put an end to the contract because Gaelscéal did not sell enough copies.

Agus bhí an ceart acu - níor dhíol muid go leor, ach bhí preasráiteas an Fhorais dochreidte i leith dhíolacháin Gaelscéal go díreach.And they were right - we did not sell enough, but the press statement of the Foras was unbelievably in respect of Gaelscéal sales directly.

Chuir ráiteas an Fhorais in iúl nach raibh de chiorclaíocht ag Gaelscéal ach 1,314 cóip in aghaidh na seachtaine, ní raibh sé sin beacht ar chor ar bith.The statement of the Foras made it known that Gaelscéal had only 1,314 copies of a circulation each week, this was not accurate at all.

Ní fios an ndearna an Foras é sin d’aonghnó, trí easpa cumarsáide idir an bord agus feidhmeannas an Fhorais, nó trí easpa cumais.It is not known if the Foras did that on purpose, through a lack of communication between the board and executive of the Foras, or through lack of competence.

Bhí ciorclaíocht 3,978 sa tseachtain ag Gaelscéal. Gaelscéal had a circulation of 3,978 per week.Thiocfadh leis sin a bith i bhfad níos fearr go cinnte, ach le cúrsaí eacnamaíochta mar atá agus nuachtáin an domhain mhóir ag streachailt, tá muid bródúil as sin.This could be a lot better certainly, but with economic affairs as they are and the newspapers of the world struggling, we are proud of that.

Ar ndóigh is ionann an figiúr sin agus léitheoireacht 8,000 in aghaidh na seachtaine. However this figure is the same as a readership of 8,000 each week.Líon 7,806 teaghlach Daonáireamh 2011 amach i nGaeilge. 7,806 households filled out the 2011 Census in the Irish language.Is ionann an dá fhigiúr a bheag nó a mhór.The two figures are more or less the same.

Cuimhnímis go raibh ar Gaelscéal an páipéar a chur ar líne saor in aisce, agus suíomh idirlín cuimsitheach a bheith againn, rud a rinne dochar dár ndíolachán gan amhras - ach nach raibh aon chreidiúint a fháil do na rudaí sin ón Fhoras.Let us remember that Gaelscéal had to put the paper online for free, and a comprehensive internet site for us, something that did harm to our sales no doubt - but there was no credit to be had from the Foras for these things.

Níor luadh é fiú.It wasn’t even mentioned.

Níor luadh an díolachán sna scoileanna ach an oiread, d’ainneoin gur cóipeanna crua a bhí i gceist.The sales in the schools was not mentioned either, notwithstanding that there were hard copies involved.

Bhí sé sin maslach go díreach agus léirigh sé easpa measa ar an obair a rinneadh i dtaca leis an díolachán seo.This was directly insulting and it demonstrated a lack of appreciation of the work that was done regarding these sales.

Fágaimis an bhunfhadhb mhatamaitice i leataobh ag an phointe seo, ach cad iad na ‘pleananna’ seo atá ag an Fhoras? Let us leave the basic mathematical problem aside at this point, but what are these ‘plans’ that the Foras have?Tuigtear dúinn go bhfuil ‘suirbhé’ á ullmhú ag an Fhoras. We appreciate that the Foras is preparing a ‘survey’.Ach is léir go nglacfaidh sé bliain ar a laghad sula mbeidh aon tseirbhís nua bunaithe.But it is clear that it will take at least a year before any new service is established.

Cén mhaitheas a dhéanfaidh an bhearna sin don Ghaeilge? What good will that gap do for the Irish language?

Cén fáth nár ligeadh do Gaelscéal leanúint ar aghaidh, go leictreonach fiú, go dtí go mbeadh comórtas nua ann?Why was Gaelscéal not let continue, even electronically, until there would be a new competition.

Agus caithfear a chur san áireamh nach bhfuil ach suíomh idirlín TG4 chun tosaigh orainn sa rangú domhanda, agus go bhfuil bearna mhór idir shuíomh Ghaelscéal agus an chéad suíomh eile i nGaeilge atá taobh thiar dúinn sa tríú háit.And it will have to be taken into account that only the TG4 website is ahead of us on the worldly rankings, and that there is a large gap between the Gaelscéal site and the next Irish language site that is behind us in third place.

An mbeidh maoiniú ann ó Fhoras na Gaeilge do pháipéar clóite arís? Is é tuairim an pháipéir seo go mbeidh.Will there be funding from Foras na Gaeilge for a printed paper again? It is the opinion of this paper that there will be.

Is léir nach iad Foras na Gaeilge, agus níos tábhachtaí, Bord an Fhorais atá ceaptha ag polaiteoirí na tíre, an dream is fóirsteanaí chun maoiniú a dhéanamh ar na meáin Ghaeilge. It is clear that Foras na Gaeilge, and more importantly the Board of the Foras which has been chosen by the politicians of the country, are not the most fitting combination of people to fund the Irish language media.

Ní gá ach spléachadh a thabhairt ar shuíomhanna idirlín pháirtithe polaitiúla na hÉireann chun a seasamh i leith na Gaeilge a fheiceáil - tá formhór acu i mBéarla amháin. There is only a need to glance at the internet sites of the political parties of Ireland to see their stand regarding the Irish language - the majority of them are in English only.Mar a léirigh Gaelscéal cheana, tá níos mó Gaeilge ar shuíomh idirlín Bhanríon Shasana.As Gaelscéal has already demonstrated, there is more Irish language on the internet site of the Queen of England.

Tá múnla nua maoinithe ag teastáil agus beidh ceann a mholadh againn sna seachtainí atá fágtha againn.There is a new form of funding needed and we will be recommending one in the weeks we have left.

Leanfaidh Gaelscéal ar aghaidh chomh fada agus is féidir, ach tá muid ag caint ar sheachtainí seachas ar mhíonna, faraor.Gaelscéal will continue on as long as possible, but we are talking about weeks rather than months, sadly.

I gceann tamaill róghairid, beidh ‘Foinse’ ag treabhadh leo féin, go n-éirí leo, go raibh tacaíocht acu ón phobal, agus go raibh misneach acu chun súil ghéar a choinneáil orthu sin a bhfuil an cumhacht acu.In too short a while, Foinse will be ploughing alone; may they succeed, may they have support from the public, and may they have the courage to keep a sharp eye on those who have the power.